Haljen the Windmaster's Great Loss
by Termenoid
Summary: A story in addition to the original background story of Haljen the Windmaster, the Shifter Scout. This story explains how Haljen lost two Controllers one violent day.


"So close..." whispered Sorlen. In front of him, on the wrought-iron table in his quarters, sat an orb of dark glass. Within, a kingdom deep underground could be seen, if you peered in closely enough. I stood silently next to him, having rode inside on the wind without a noise. Sorlen Kalarnai was too preoccupied to notice my entrance. I watched for several long moments as the demilich reached the skeletal remains of his hand slowly towards the orb. This magic was illegal, but generally the Controllers couldn't care less about the law. However, Sorlen was preparing to perform an act of murder, using his undead minions as pawns.  
I couldn't allow that to happen, especially since he had not informed the rest of the Controllers of his intentions. I had observed him for weeks during his preparations, and now the time had come to stop him. I slapped his hand away from the orb, and held him immobile by the winds, all in one swift move. I registered the shock in his face, even considering the rigidity of his bare skull.  
"Why are you doing this, Sorlen?" I bellowed. "Why are you prepared to commit such an act of homicide?" Sorlen's jaw bone moved slightly, but then, quickly, almost reluctantly, it seemed, snapped shut. I waited for an answer, then commanded the air to release the demilich. He slumped to the ground, no longer bothering to float above the ground. His raspy breathing filled my ears, the only audible sound in the room excluding the steady pulsing of the dark orb. I strode over to the magical sphere and looked inside. The sprawling town of Menzoberranzen stared back at me. I rose my forearm, equipped with my gauntlet axe, and brought it down heavily upon the foul enchantment. The orb screamed, and shattered into a million shards of shadow. I whirled on Sorlen, who gazed back at me with defiance. Although he controlled necromantic magic, what he had created to destroy Menzoberranzen was beyond necromancy. It was not like Sorlen, and most certainly was against the code of the Controllers Of The Planes.  
The Controllers of the Planes is the group I belong to, a group of people where each member is the sole representative of their element. We wish to slowly take control of every element in existence, in order to change the world for the better. The law, unfortunately, does not agree with our methods. I will admit, they are... questionable.  
I am Haljen the Windmaster. I control martial air. I also act as the enforcer of the Controllers. Therefore, it was my duty to lock Sorlen in a cell in our tower until we decided what to do. As I we stared coldly at each other through the bars of his prison, I noticed his jaw twitch. Usually, that would be considered normal, but Sorlen's face never moves indeliberately. I knew something was wrong with him at that point, but as if that wasn't enough... flame burst from his eye sockets in enormous plumes. I leaped aside and hit the cement floor hard as the intense, white-hot flame melted everything in its path. When it stopped, I picked myself up warily. I looked inside the cell, and Sorlen's bones were scattered all throughout the room. I was, for the first time in my life, speechless. I decided to take the information to the other Controllers.  
"As you all know, Sorlen Kalarnai is entirely incapable of casting such powerful pyromantic spells." I said, after gathering up the others into the main hall. I paced back and forth as I spoke; "And, he broke the Code in the worst possible manner... he intended to destroy an entire city... a major one, at that... with his undead."  
Myr Kanja, a kobold who has controlled darkness since she was a hatchling, drummed her claws together thoughtfully. "Sorlen has always been... morbid. But he has never allowed his darker side to take control of him before. And," she added, "as Haljen pointed out, he has not the capability to cast flame incantations of that degree."  
"I think we are all agreed something has happened to Sorlen," Fenri Lin, the eladrin controller of life magic, said grimly. "-And, without him, much of the undead population of the world will be released of his control and roam the world mindlessly."  
Sky, a thri-kreen who controlled light, added in his gravvely voice, "We must restore his unlife."  
Sil Ferl, tiefling fire controller, jumped up from his seat. "Wait! How can we be sure that he will not do the same thing again?"  
I smiled, showing my pointed teeth. "Then I'll take care of the problem."

None of us were very skilled in necromancy, other than Sorlen. But, Sorlen was a meticulous record-keeper. We had but to read his notes to learn much about his trade.  
We chanted night and day for a fortnight, and used much of our supplies. By the end of the week, Sorlen was up.  
He couldn't remember anything about the dark orb, however, and when we questioned him, he was unable to answer most of the questions. I became frustrated quickly, and turned to Fenri for guidance. When I entered his quarters, however, he was raising some kind of plant from the ground. I remained silent, so as not to disturb his ritual, but I gasped as I saw what he was creating. It was a mossling mind master, a dangerous plant-being that raises multiple minions to raid and destroy any settlements it can. Fenri raised many others before my eyes, and after the fifth one I regained my composure.  
"STOP!" I shouted. Fenri whirled on me. I was briefly startled when I saw his eyes, which were normally light blue, were totally black. But I managed to dash over to the mosslings and hack them all to pieces. Covered in plant matter, breathing heavily, I turned slowly towards Fenri Lin. "What..." I panted, "in the name of the CODE... WERE YOU DOING?"  
Fenri's answer was to growl and charge me. He raised his longsword, but I effortlessly disarmed him in two strikes. I got behind him and held him in a sleeper hold until he passed out. I slung his unconcious body over my shoulder and carried him out the door. The other Controllers stared in dismay as I explained the events from a moment before. They all stared in dismay, that is, except for Sil. The pyromancer appeared somnambulent, almost apathetic. I kept talking, but watched him out of the corner of my eye. I resolved to keep an eye on him.

That night, I left my quarters to commune with the air spirits, it being the full moon, when I heard a floorboard squeak around a corner. I furrowed my brow and followed the noise. It was Sil. I moved silently as a ghost, moving behind Sil, staying around corners so that he could not possibly glimpse me happenstancically. Eventually, he entered the quarters of Rugner, a half-orc who controls water. I waited for Sil to shut the door, and then listened through it. "That damn shifter caught Sorlen and Fenri," came Sil's muffled whisper, "but you will do more damage than both of them combined.." The steady snore in the background told me that Rugner was asleep.  
So Sil was behind it. The flames from Sorlen's eye sockets... it made sense. Sil was related to demons, so demonic possession was likely the method by which he was causing the Controllers to do this.  
Sil spoke again. "The planes shall not be shared by us all... they shall belong to Sil Ferl alone!" I had heard enough. I crashed through the door, slamming the thing off its hinges. Sil whirled on me and, without missing a beat, fired a plume of blue flame at my head. His shot was dead-on, but I raised my forearm fast enough to block it with my gauntlet axe. Sil's lip curled in disgust. "You again! Wind cannot defeat fire! You will be the next victim! Now that the others have been alerted, I'll just have to possess you ALL!" He threw a chair at me, and lit it on fire in midair. I ducked it, and blew him into a wall with the strongest wind I could muster without tearing the place apart.  
Kyle Hishnar, a human who controls earth, rushed in. "What is going on in here? Why... WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING SIL?"  
I leapt out of the way of Sil's next blast of flame, which instead hit the wall and lit the wood on fire. "No time to explain, Kyle! Get him!"  
Kyle trusted me enough that day to leap on Sil and cause a spike of stone to impale him.  
Sil managed to stand up and cast a spell on himself. The wound healed most of the way. I pinned him to the ground and slashed repeatedly with my axes. Myr Kanja entered the room next, accompanied by Sky and Sorlen.  
A look of recognition flashed across Sorlen's skull, and he bellowed, "HE WAS THE ONE! HE TOOK ME OVER!" I grinned maliciously and threw Sil into a wall. Kyle rushed at the now prone tiefling and yelled, "You're finished, demon!"  
Unfortunately, Sil was faking. He rapidly formed a spear of flame and impaled Kyle where he stood. The human's eyes widened, he choked, and crumpled. I cannot go into detail about what happened next, as I do not remember it. I was shocked for a moment, then so filled with berserk rage that I couldn't speak or think. I simply attacked. Most of my strikes were post-mortum that day. I think Sil was dead after the seventh slash, but I kept on going.

The other Controllers were in emotional pain that day. Kyle was a good friend and a nice person. Sil had never been friendly to anyone, but he was a good pyromancer.

We had a grand funeral for Kyle and buried him in the back of the tower.  
We spit on Sil's grave.

We managed to find another earth controller, a half-elf, in the nearest town. We were lucky. But we have had problems finding a qualified pyromancer. Most of the ones we found were either incompetent, didn't agree with our ideas, or were psycopathic sadists like Sil. I guess that sometimes happens when you control as destructive a force as fire.

I heard of a skilled pyromancer who began travels with a group of adventurers. I enjoy leading adventurers. I shall act as one of them, and check out the pyromancer... Pyruiin.

In memory of Kyle Hishnar.

~~Haljen, the Windmaster. 


End file.
